49 U.S.C. § 24301 — Status and applicable laws

(a) Status. Amtrak is a "railroad carrier" under section 20102(2) and chapters 261 and 281 of this title. It must be run and managed as a for-profit corporation. It is not a department, agency, or arm of the U.S. government, and title 31 (the general federal financial-management law) does not apply to it. (b) Principal Office and Place of Business. Amtrak's main office is in the District of Columbia. It is authorized to operate in every State where it does business under this part. Legal papers can be served on Amtrak by certified mail to its secretary at that main office. For purposes of federal court jurisdiction, Amtrak counts only as a citizen of D.C. (c) Application of Subtitle IV. The general rail-regulation rules in subtitle IV of this title do not apply to Amtrak, except for five listed sections (11123, 11301, 11322(a), 11502, and 11706). Even so, Amtrak still counts as an "employer" under the Railroad Retirement Act, the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, and the Railroad Retirement Tax Act. (d) Application of Safety and Employee Relations Laws and Regulations. Laws and rules that apply to other railroad carriers — covering safety, union representation, labor disputes, retirement, and other employee matters — also apply to Amtrak. (e) Application of Certain Additional Laws. The federal open-records law (5 U.S.C. § 552), this part, and — to the extent they don't conflict — the District of Columbia's business corporation law apply to Amtrak. The open-records law applies in any year Amtrak gets federal subsidy money. (f) Tax Exemption for Certain Commuter Authorities. A commuter authority that could have contracted with Amtrak Commuter but chose instead to run its own rail service starting January 1, 1983, gets the same tax exemption Amtrak gets, effective October 1, 1981. (g) Nonapplication of Rate, Route, and Service Laws. State or other laws about rates, routes, or service do not apply to Amtrak's rail passenger operations. (h) Nonapplication of Pay Period Laws. State or local laws about pay periods or paydays do not apply to Amtrak, except under a collective bargaining agreement. Employees must be paid at least as often as they were paid on October 1, 1979. (i) Preemption Related to Employee Work Requirements. States cannot require Amtrak, by law or regulation, to employ a specific number of people for a particular job or task. (j) Nonapplication of Laws on Joint Use or Operation of Facilities and Equipment. Legal bans on sharing facilities and equipment do not stop a person from making a deal with Amtrak to jointly use facilities and equipment needed for efficient rail service. (k) Exemption From Additional Taxes. Here, "additional tax" means a tax on Amtrak's acquisition, improvement, ownership, or operation of personal property, or on real property (except taxes on buying real property or on its value before Amtrak improved it). "Amtrak" for this purpose includes its rail carrier subsidiaries and their landlords or tenants. Amtrak does not have to pay such additional taxes because it spent money acquiring or improving real property, equipment, facilities, or right-of-way materials used for rail passenger service, even indirectly. (l) Exemption From Taxes Levied After September 30, 1981. Amtrak, its rail subsidiaries, and their passengers and other customers are exempt from state, local, or other taxes and fees on Amtrak, its subsidiaries, on people traveling or mail and express carried by Amtrak, on selling that transportation, or on the revenue from it, imposed after September 30, 1981. If Amtrak already had to pay a particular tax as of September 10, 1982, it is not exempt from that tax if it was assessed before April 1, 1997. Federal district courts have original jurisdiction over lawsuits Amtrak files to enforce this exemption, and may grant equitable or declaratory relief. (m) Waste Disposal. Intercity rail cars built after October 14, 1990 must only discharge human waste at a servicing facility, not while running. Amtrak had to retrofit older cars built between May 1, 1971 and October 15, 1990 with the same kind of waste system, subject to available funding, completing the retrofit by October 15, 2001; cars that still don't meet this standard after that date must be pulled from service. Other federal, state, and local waste-disposal laws do not apply to waste disposal from intercity rail cars. Federal district courts have original jurisdiction over Amtrak lawsuits to enforce this rule, and may grant equitable or declaratory relief. (n) Rail Transportation Treated Equally. When federal agencies authorize travel for military or civilian government personnel within the continental United States, they must treat rail travel — including extra-fare trains — the same as other authorized travel modes. The General Services Administration must include Amtrak in its contract air travel program in markets where Amtrak's fares and trip times are competitive. (o) Applicability of District of Columbia Law. Any lease or contract Amtrak makes with the State of Maryland (or one of its agencies) after this subsection's enactment is governed by District of Columbia law.